When the sun sets, all the hair on their body starts to disappear. Slowly, their hands and feet turn back to normal and Winston, Mac, Emerson and Moonie transform from hairy, scary, tiny versions of themselves, known as the “Grimps,” into a human rock-and-roll band.

The Grimps, the creation of Howard Beach native Richard Sirgiovanni, is a cartoon about four rock-and-roll musicians who lived 500 years ago. But the musicians were cursed by an evil Spectar, who was jealous of their talent and celebrity.

After enlisting the help of their friend, a wizard named Magic Alex, a spell was finally created to turn them back into humans – but there was a catch. All four remained human from sunset to sunrise, at which point they turned back into Grimps.

Grimps, says Sirgiovanni, is a combination of the words “gruesome” and “impish.” With an animated television series and a major motion picture in the planning stages, Sirgiovanni also hopes to produce original music to accompany his cartoon.

“I believe The Grimps will take on a life of it’s own as a popular music entity,” said Sirgiovanni.

He has already collaborated with Ron Dante, the voice of the 1969 single “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies and Freddie Cannon. Dante and Cannon have written and recorded the theme song for the Grimps called “We’re the Grimps.”

All of the music production has so far has been handled by John Boylan, the Grammy award-winning producer who has worked on “The Chipmunks,” “The Muppets” and “The Simpsons.”

After meeting with many networks and production companies like Nickelodeon and Teen Nick, not to mention Happy Madison Productions, which was created by Adam Sandler, Sirgiovanni says he is getting “good responses” from producers.

Sirgiovanni believes his cartoon will be a hit among children between the ages of seven and 13.

“It’s going to be extremely popular with kids," said Sirgiovanni. "It’s going to promote good messages. It’s going to deal with morals, but with humor and comedy.”

For more information on The Grimps visit their website at thegrimps.com.